August Kreis, leader of the Aryan Nation, wants to work with Al-Qaeda.
I know many on this board are suspect whether Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda attacked the United States. I can understand why so many are distrustful of anything said by George W. Bush.
I do trust Richard Clarke. Bush promised OBL dead or alive and six months later said he didn’t care where he is. For that reason alone, George Bush does not deserve to be president.
Now we have the Aryan Nation seeking common ground with those responsible for the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks. Talk about an unholy alliance.
From CNN:
With his long beard and potbelly, August Kreis looks more like a washed up member of ZZ Top than an aspiring revolutionary.
Don’t let appearances fool you: his résumé includes stops at some of America’s nastiest extremist groups — Posse Comitatus, the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nation.
“I don’t believe that they were the ones that attacked us,” Kreis said. “And even if they did, even if you say they did, I don’t care!”
Kreis wants to make common cause with al Qaeda because, he says, they share the same enemies: Jews and the American government.
The terms they use may be different: White supremacists call them ZOG, the Zionist Occupation Government, while al Qaeda calls them the Jews and Crusaders.
But the hatred is the same. And Kreis wants to exploit that.
Hatred…Bush and Rove and Cheney played the emotion of hatred like a fiddle, stroking their base to feel hatred. Maybe Kreis can find common cause with them.
One group doesn’t need the Aryan Nation, however.
For its part, the FBI says it hasn’t seen any links between American white supremacists and groups like al Qaeda.
“The notion of radical Islamists from abroad actually getting together with American neo-Nazis I think is an absolutely frightening one,” said Potok. “It’s just that so far we really have no evidence at all to suggest this is any kind of real collaboration.”
So while August Kreis may be calling, there is no sign that al Qaeda is listening.
But that hasn’t stopped him. As we ended our interview, we asked Kreis if he had any message for Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants.
“The message is, the cells are out here and they are already in place,” Kreis said. “They might not be cells of Islamic people, but they are here and they are ready to fight.”
DowneastDem posted a diary, What’s the matter with Kansas on March 9 about the Aryan Nation wanting to move the headquarters to Kansas City. It’s worth a read and check out the comment thread too.
UPDATE Here’s my answer to hate groups, be they the Aryan Nation or the Bush Cult. Link here: Crank it to 11!
People uniting in hatred . . . just like the Republican party!
Excellent diary.
and just as many black people, too!
Thanks, I’ll be here all week!
I happened to be researching the Aryan Nations when 9/11 happened. Kreis and others saw the attack as an attack on the Jews (for whatever twisted reasons). And noted that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. They have been consistent about this stuff for a long time.
is that a rumor went around that all the Jews were forewarned and escaped unharmed. It had a lot of currency in the Middle East for a while.
So, many Muslims thought the Jews were co-conspirators, while the Aryan Nation simultaneously thought the Jews were the target.
Bizarre.
Hate, breeds Hate, and that’s a damned scary gene pool.
Even though the two entities in a situation without a prime objective, would truly hate each other, in this they find a common ground.
Thanks for your newsworthy diary entry, Carnacki. Chilling stuff.
In related news, the Dept. of Homeland Insecurity seems to have persuaded itself that there is no threat from right-wing terrorist movements in the US. From Page Fifteen:
What a relief – they are just ‘freedom fighters’ then!
Seems to me right-wing terrorists struck pretty damn hard in Oklahoma City. The conspiracy part of me wonders why they’re left off the list now.
April 19 is a big day for white supremacists:
… the date of April 19 allegedly meant a great deal to McVeigh because of Waco, its significance is much broader for many members of the far right.
For instance, it was on April 19, 1985, that approximately 200 lawmen surrounded the Arkansas compound of the paramilitary Covenant, the Sword and the Arm. When the CSA surrendered four days later, authorities discovered that several members of The Order, the group accused of assassinating Denver radio talk-show host Alan Berg, were hiding at the CSA compound.
Kerry Noble, who was second-in-command for the CSA, told The Post that “dates are so important in the movement. Everything has to have some kind of significance, either with the dates or numbers or something.” One of the people who found particular significance in the April 19 date was white supremacist Richard Wayne Snell, who had been associated with the CSA. On April 19, 1995, Snell was executed in Arkansas. A decade earlier, he allegedly plotted to blow up the Murrah building.
At three minutes past noon on April 19, 1995 – three hours after the Oklahoma City blast – Snell turned to a prison official as they watched live coverage of the Oklahoma City tragedy. According to the minute-by-minute log of Snell’s last days on death row, Snell told the prison lieutenant that “today is a very significant day for various reasons.” About 30 minutes later, the prison log indicated “Snell laying on bunk watching TV News Special on the situation in Oklahoma … Smiling and chuckling.”
For the racist Snell, who had killed a black Arkansas state trooper and a pawnshop owner he mistakenly thought was Jewish, the final hours of his life were filled with the knowledge that his pending execution was a cause celebre among the country’s right-wing militants.
As Snell’s April 19 execution approached, the Militia of Montana’s newsletter, Taking Aim, repeatedly reported about the pending execution. In one issue, the publication reminded readers of the significance of April 19 with a list that included:
# April 19, 1775: The battle of Lexington and Concord, which touched off the U.S. war for independence from England.
# April 19, 1943: Warsaw was shelled and burned by German Nazis.
# April 19, 1992: The government attempted to raid Randy Weaver’s home at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, but the plans were thwarted when concerned citizens arrived with supplies for the Weaver family.
# April 19, 1993: The Branch Davidian raid.
# April 19, 1995: Richard Snell would be executed.
The attention that Snell’s pending execution was getting in the right-wing press caused concern both among Arkansas state officials and Snell’s defense attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig.
Throughout the afternoon of April 19, 1995, Snell continued to watch television coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing, predicting to one visitor that the United States would attack Iran within two days and telling the same visitor that President Clinton “is desperately trying to stay alive.” At 9:10 p.m. on April 19, 1995, Snell said his last words:
“Justice is on the way. I wouldn’t trade places with you or any of your political cronies. Hail his victory, I am at peace.”
http://63.147.65.175/bomb/bomb139.htm
(Forgive me if this is too long an excerpt. I had trouble cutting it because it is literally “close to home” for me. If you’re interested in this type of thing, Google “Elohim City”. It’s a white supremacist compound on the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. There’s lots of crazies out here in rural America, but they’re way under the radar.)
Not too long at all. It adds a lot to the thread so thank you for posting it. You might even want to make it a diary for April 19th. I’d recommend it.
The best diaries are the ones that really hit close to home, IMO.
While news of their attempted actions gets tiny, tiny print in the media (and mostly no TV time), over the past couple of years right wing terrorists have been arrested for planning to blow up abortion clinics (and the churches who didn’t condemn abortion enough) , having the makings for huge “dirty bombs” and terrorist cells ready to pull something off, and who knows what else.
It makes no sense at all, how completely irresponsible and dangerous this admin is.
Bet they are NOT on the NFL(no fly list) either. So that would give them carte blanche for more terror in the air. Scary thought folks. I feel we are seeing such a culture war that we may never recover completely. What do we do? I mean is this all too far gone to even care if we get dems elected or not? will it really matter?
the base? I have to say there’s a part of this that doesn’t surprise me at all.
I mean, let’s say someone wanted to take over our government, using threats to the nation as an excuse to suspend laws/elections/etc. One would still need muscle. A citizen’s militia.
You won’t find a more heavily armed and organized citizen’s fighting force that this.
I know…been reading up far too much about Nazi Germany that last few days. Echos of the SA.
Not saying that this is what’s going to happen or even what’s planned. Just…might be a certain “ace in the hole” if you know what I mean.
I don’t know how practical or possible it is that the various groups would hook up, but that’s one thing I’ve been a bit concerned about.
When people have a shared ideology and goal–or even just a shared interest in destablising something, anything– it’s not a big stretch to think they would work together. I believe the IRA was found to be training or providing stuff to some south/central American group not too long ago.
What Nanette said.
I don’t know how probable it is for the two groups to get together, but the prospect is damned scary.
There was a (fiction) book i read a few years ago on this subject (can’t remember title). The premise was that white muslims from bosnia come in as germans, merge with some kkk types and start killing judges and minority school massacres to spark war between blacks and the rest of society.
Scary stuff, and plausible.
Actually, that sounds like the kind of book I’d like to read. If you think of the title, please email me.